Love Story
by Kuaishu
Summary: A selection of short drabbles and prompts for the 2017 Kataang Week! Rating may change.
1. Smile

She'd had no intention, when she were a young girl, to have grown up a politician. Sure, her father was the leader of their tribe and the most powerful man in the South Pole, but that didn't necessarily mean that she were prepared the day that she found herself propelled into the precarious world of politics for the first time. It wasn't a surprise, of course. Being the Avatar's wife meant that her life was as little her own as his was, but it was a surprise, however, to find that she eased into the role as if she had grown up in the Royal Fire Nation Palace itself.

She supposed that being one of the lead figures in the war with the Fire Nation had passively offered her some of the skills she needed. She supposed also that having the Firelord as one of her closest friends had a little to do with it as well. But, like the Avatar himself, their patient natures lended themselves well to a life of constant questioning, constant debating, and constantly trying to keep the peace.

In spite of her surprising talents at negotiating the politic mindfields of their world, there were no denying that she didn't exactly enjoy it. But, being the wife of the Avatar, Avatar Aang certainly, meant that there were other things expected of her. Avatar Aang was known world over for his benevolent disposition, for being both generous and charitable, yet one feature of the Avatar seemed to hold almost legendary status. A feature that would cause children to beam, frightful locals to ease, and women to swoon. His smile.

Being the Avatar's wife came, not only with the pressure to be equally as kind and caring as he, but it also came with an inate understanding of him, and understanding that few others had. She had learned over time that Aang's smile, a weapon that she was certain he used to his full advantage, was every bit as political as the lives they led. She became familiar with his most honest of smiles, the twinkle in his eyes as he spoke to children and locals, performing tricks to amuse and amaze, and often to take their minds off the difficult positions many still found themselves in. Yet, she also noted the smiles that came in times of stress, when the full effects of the war bore down on him, when he would force the smile onto his face when trying to comfort children who had lost parents, mothers who had lost children, where the presence of the Avatar was enough to give them even the smallest hope. There were the smiles he used exclusively when speaking to press, the light never quite reaching his eyes. And the smiles he used when confronted with some of the many ill-flavoured individuals working within the council's of the Earth Kingdom and North Pole, those who sought to outsmart him or manipulate him in their race towards power. But there was one smile that she loved most of all, one particularly smile that found she returned in kind each time. And that was the smile he reserved for her.

It was the smile that lit his features when they finally saw each other again after a brief time apart during the peace treaty, the smile that crept onto his tired face as they lay beside one another, the smile that brought creases to the corner of his eyes when she said something particularly funny, or when he and Sokka got the chance to play yet another of their practical jokes on herself and Suki. It was the smile she had seen most honest and pure the day their baby had been born, and that seemed to never fade from that point on. It was her smile, as much as it was his, and she hoped that it would never fade.


	2. Best Friends

It was a beautiful, warm summers evening on Air Temple Island, the sort of evening that he lived for in his twilight years, where the demands upon his time had lessened and the world moved along at a pace often too fast for him to keep up with any more. It wasn't something that bothered him, growing old. Sure, it was strange to find that a man of his previous speed and agility was often outrun by the younger generation, but the jokes about his bad back, or whether or not he even needed to shave his head any more only reminded him that he had it good. He had it very good indeed.

He had been able to watch his children grow into smart, capable, kind adults. He had been there when the first of Appa's grandchildren had been born. And he had also watched as his wife had matured into the most wonderful mother he could imagine, growing only more and more beautiful with each wrinkle that graced her body. She sat in the garden where, for the first time in over a year, the whole family was together. Bumi had returned from his placement in the Earth Kingdom for a short holiday, and his laughter was heard loud and clear from across the clearing as he no doubt made fun of his youngest sibling, Tenzin. Kya sat behind her mother, who she so very much resembled, plaiting her greying hair with some of the wild lilies that grew at their home, her face alight with passion as she talked about the places she had seen in her last few years of traveling. Tenzin, himself, looked less serious for once, slapping Bumi's hand away as he rubbed his bald head, but laughing as he did so. The Avatar felt the broad smile on his face as he looked at his family, his heart swelling fit to burst with pride.

Katara looked over in his direction, her own smile widening as she saw him looking down at them with such adoration. She reached behind her, patting her daughter on the hand before getting to her feet and coming to join him. He held out his hand, which she took keenly, before settling beside him, the pair snuggling in close.

"We made some seriously good looking kids," Aang hummed, his fingers playing with her newly decorated plait.

"I'll say," she agreed, before turning her gaze back to him. The pair looked contentedly at each other, smiling lazily, full of the joy that their lives, at last, were just their own. Aang did not run to every beck and call from the Firelord any more. He didn't answer every scroll sent by the Earth King, or even the North Pole. And though the Avatar could never be afford a true retirement, he enjoyed the freedom of knowing that he had helped create a world that, mostly, could run peacefully without his help. A world that he knew he did not have full credit for, a world that he had created with the help of his wife, his best friend. Katara blushed lightly, as she saw his eyes haze over as memories of the life they had left met him, and he grinned further, leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers.

"Oh man, oogies!" Bumi's loud, teasing shout was heard, and the pair pulled apart, looking back at him.

"Close your eyes, kids," Aang called, whilst Katara laughed, "maxiumum oogies abound."

Bumi raised a hand in front of his eyes, sticking his tongue out in disgust as his father turned back to his mother, pulling her closer and kissing her all over her face as she laughed harder. Tenzin rolled his eyes, and Kya pressed her hands together, smiling up at her love struck parents.

He would never understand what he had done to deserve such happiness, or to have been so fortunate as to fall in love with his best friend, but he would never stop thanking the spirits regardless.


	3. Dance

"Look, I know neither of you manly men with your manly senses of direction want to admit this, but we're lost."

The woman dressed in blue stopped short, sweat dripping down her forehead, her hair messy and frazzled in the high humidity, her fists on her hips. For hours she and her two companions had been traversing this jungle, the disturbances in the spirit world having caused some of the strangest phenomenons in their own world over the last few months. Their mission, this time, had been to track and locate a spirit that had been slaughtering livestock in several villages in the region, an act that had left close to a hundred people starving and struggling to make their living. It seemed like a simple enough job, after all they had the _'Bridge Between Worlds'_ along with them for the ride, and spirits often had a habit of seeking the Avatar out as often as he sought them. But today, even with the Avatar and _'the best tracker in the South Pole'_ among them they had succeeded only in getting themselves lost.

The champion tracker in question seemed to be fairing little better than his sister. His arm was cut from stumbling into a tall growing patch of plants with blade-like leaves, and his expression was decidedly disgruntled. The Avatar, though notably less bothered by the heat, was himself covered in a smelly mud after he had chased what he originally thought to be the spirit into a deep bog, only to find that he had in actual fact been chasing a small mud rat. It was something that Sokka, tracker extraordinaire, would no doubt never let him live down, and he had laughed until he cried when Aang climbed back out of the bog, algae and mud across his entire person, wriggling mud rat in hand. His humour had worn off, however, as the day had gone by, and now Katara was about ready to call their bluffs.

"We're not lost," Sokka replied heatedly. "I know exactly where we're going."

"Oh, really?" Katara demanded, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "Because we've passed this exact tree three times already!"

"How can you tell it's the same tree?" Aang asked, looking at the one she had pointed to, his expression puzzled.

"Because the knots look like a monkey face," she replied, as if it were obvious. Her brother and boyfriend looked down at the knots, turning their heads this way and that, trying to make out the face in the wood.

"The heat has frazzled your head," Sokka said. "All I see is a boring old tree."

"Nah," Aang said, his head down at a ninety degree angle, "I can sort of see a monkey ..."

"It doesn't matter, it's the same tree, I'm sure of it," Katara huffed, vainly trying to brush her hair out of her face.

"Alright then, genius, if you think you can do a better job," Sokka said, holding his palms out. Katara rolled her eyes at him, before appraising their location. At length, she pointed to her left, beginning to set off.

"This way," she said firmly. Aang and Sokka looked at one another, shrugged, and began to follow.

It became apparent very quickly that Katara had no better an idea of where they were headed than they did, her meandering tracking seeming to lead them only deeper and deeper into the jungle, the undergrowth growing thicker and more deadly, the air growing warmer and more humid, until Sokka stopped dead, throwing his hands into the air.

"Katara, you've only made us more lost!" He exclaimed through his panting. "I can hardly breathe in this place."

"How could we possibly be more lost, butt head?" She snarled, to which Aang choked on the hip flask he had just raised to his lips.

" _Butt head?_ " He repeated, as he began to laugh.

"Hey, if anyone's the butt head it's Mr _'I'm The Bridge Between Worlds'_ over there," Sokka retorted angrily, poking his thumb in Aang's direction. "He's the one who's supposed to be able to find these damn spirits!"

"Whoa, easy there," Aang said, raising his palms forward in submission, though he still grinned widely, "don't start throwing all those cutting insults around like that, someone might get hurt."

"No no, Sokka has a point," Katara added, her hands back on her hips. "You're the spirit magnet, so where the hell is it?"

"Maybe it's smart enough to not want to be found," Aang reasoned. "But it is strange."

"Right," Sokka snorted, "because you've never lost a spirit before." The Avatar deadpanned.

"Well, do some spirit stuff and see if you can find it, won't you?" Katara huffed, finding a stray root she could perch on. "Because otherwise we're just going to have to find a way out of this place and start afresh another day."

"Do some spirit stuff?" Aang replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeh, you know, go into the spirit world, do some flashy blue tattoo stuff, you know that cool shit you do to impress Katara," Sokka said with a dismissive wave of the hand. Aang rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't exactly work that way, Sokka," he explained. He looked around at their surroundings, instead trying to focus on where the foliage seemed thinner. He could not see with his eyes, the vegetation just too tightly packed, so instead he reached down and began to pull one of his muddy boots off. Katara and Sokka watched with distaste as Aang's bare foot hit the leaf and rot littered ground.

"Well, trees seem thinner that way," Aang said, nodding his head to his right as he pulled his boot back on. "So I say we head that way."

"Very spiritual," Sokka grumbled, before the trio set off again.

Sure enough, the trees began to thin, and with some hope they trudged onward. Their first indication that there was anything spiritual about the jungle soon arrived, however, as a gentle soft humming seemed to fill the air, the breeze starting to feel sweeter. Aang looked back at his companions, noting the keen look on their faces, and they pushed forward. The humming grew louder, and the sound more layered, wind whistling through trunks and under branches, the leaves gently brushing against one another, like a magical symphony played by the jungle itself. Their spirits began to lighten, and they all quite forgot that the spirit they were hunting had been responsible for killing off sheep and cattle, instead just filled with wonder at the beautiful sound. Soon enough, the trio came across a clearing, a small area filled with some of the most beautiful flowers any of them had seen, attracting large, brightly coloured butterflies, their wings seeming to dance to the beat.

"Wow," Katara breathed, looking around. The clearing was dipped in peaches and lavenders, the romantic scene causing her eyes to twinkle with a beguiling light that seemed to have Aang entranced the moment he looked at her.

"What is this place?" Sokka asked, as they stepped into the clearing.

"Well, it's definitely spiritual," Aang replied, as he boldly walked to the center, looking up at the tall flowering trees above them. "But this doesn't feel like it has anything to do with the spirit we're hunting!"

"Stay on your toes," Katara warned. "We've met less than transparent spirits in the past."

"True," Aang said, looking back at her, yet he could not help but smile. Katara walked forwards, standing beside him as she too looked up at the canopy.

"Pretty," she breathed.

"Mmmhmm," Aang hummed, his smile softening gently as he looked at the pretty peach glow on her face, and the bright twinkle in her eye. Sokka made a disgusted noise.

"Oh, goodie," he muttered, his upper lip curling with distaste as Aang took Katara's hand.

"It's almost like music," Katara breathed, ignoring her brother. "Listen." The three of them stood in silence, Sokka with his arms crossed tight over his chest, Aang and Katara with hands entwined and leaning closer to each other. Sure enough, the sweet sounds around them seemed to take on the resonance of an orchestra, the sweeping highs and glorious lows, a humming in the trees and the gentle strings of the breeze. Aang squeezed Katara's hands, taking a step back and raising his eyebrows in suggestion. Katara, realising his intent, crossed one leg in front of the other in a curtsy, smiling broadly as Aang then put one hand behind her waist, and the pair began to step in time to the symphony, swirling across the leaf covered ground.

Sokka opened his mouth to remind them that he was still there, but with a sigh shut it again. He watched as his sister and best friend danced together, eyes locked and joyous smiles on their faces. He supposed it wasn't all bad. Their displays of affection had a tendency to be a little ... _oogie_ , but to see his sister so happy, to see two of the people he loved most in the world so content ... perhaps it was worth a little oogie.

"We'll look for that spirit later then, shall we?" He said, seating himself on the ground, watching the couple, covered in mud and hair on end, yet their love making them as beautiful as the clearing in which they danced.


	4. All-Nighter

It was a gift to all young lovers, perhaps, the first night that they found themselves sleepless from dawn until dusk, the company of each other so enthralling that they simply could not bear to let a little thing like sleep interrupt them. For some they stay awake into the early hours talking, getting to know one another, joking and discussing matters of wonder and intrigue as they stared into a crackling fire. For others, they lay naked on their sheets, their bodies providing all the distraction needed to persuade them that sleep could wait. For Aang and Katara, it was a bit of both. The first night that they had stayed awake the entire night, just the two of them, began on a warm summer's eve, settling down to camp after a warm summer's day of flying. It was no exaggeration to say that the last two years had been the hardest of their lives, and starting a new nation along with rebuilding the bonds between old ones was no easy fete, and though they were traveling together again, and their relationship bloomed as strong as ever, the stress of past events was evident. The Avatar was troubled, the waterbending master often tired, and though it was a welcome respite to be able to travel alone, they were still heading back towards the Fire Nation. Back to the Firelord. And back to yet more negotiations.

That warm summer's eve the pair let Appa wander, Momo in tow, eager to find some softened fruit and shoots to dinner on, and after fixing their own meals they sat together, discussing the political matters that they seemed unable to get away from. The Earth Kingdom was not happy, it rarely was, and though they had not been foolish enough as to expect anything to be easy, they certainly did not think negotiating a simple meeting between the two world leaders would be this hard. As the full moon made her presence known over the horizon, Katara interrupted their conversation with a growl of frustration.

"I'm so tired of this," she grumbled. "If I knew that we'd spend the rest of our damn lives talking politics and running around after King's and Firelord's I might have reconsidered getting involved!"

"But that would mean you wouldn't be involved with me," Aang reasoned, with a wry smile. "Surely that makes it worthwhile?"

"Barely," Katara replied, though she threw him a playful grin.

"I do get what you mean, though," Aang sighed, leaning back onto his hands. "We're still talking about it now. I mean, here we are, finally alone, it's a beautiful night, and we're talking about trade negotiations!"

"Well, maybe we should make a pact," Katara suggested, still grinning at him. "No politics after dark."

"Given how many late night meetings we've been dragged to lately I'm not sure that's quite going to work," Aang laughed.

"Ok, no politics after dark when it's just the two of us, then," she added, reaching out and shoving his shoulder. "Doofus."

"Only you could call me names and make it cute," he replied, leaning back into her, his tone lowered as he dropped his mouth to her neck.

"I'm sure I've got names that aren't quite so cute if you annoy me enough," Katara responded, putting a hand against his chest and holding him at bay.

"What could I have possibly done to annoy you?" Aang smirked, his eyes deliberately dropping to her lips, knowing that it would only distract her.

"Oh, so you've forgotten the little incident back in Ba Sing Sei then, have you?" Katara countered, determined not to let his roving eyes get to her.

"What little incident?" He hummed.

"Hmm, the wandering hands in the middle of the meeting? I'm certain General How thought I had a nervous twitch or something ..."

"Oh _that_ little incident," Aang grinned. "That can't have annoyed you, surely ..."

"I was _trying_ to listen!" Katara cried, slapping his hand as it fell on her leg. "How did I end up with such a dirty old man?"

"Age is just a number!" Aang laughed. "And besides, iceberg years don't count."

"You only say that when it suits you." She crossed her arms over her chest. "You made it very clear to Sokka that he ought to listen to his elders when he disagreed about how to deal with Arnook."

"Well, what good is a hundred years frozen in ice if you can't use it to win an argument?"

"What did I say, huh? A doofus."

"A lovable doofus ..."

"Oh you are impossible!"

Aang laughed again, moving forwards and placing a hand on her cheek, his body gently pushing her to the soft grass upon which they lay, his mouth pressing to hers. She continued to giggle through their kiss, causing Aang to grab her thigh and pull her leg up around his waist, determined to gain her full attention.

"Maybe you shouldn't make me laugh so much," she said, his ploy all too obvious to her.

"Well, I hadn't intended for this to make you laugh," he admitted, his hand roving further up her thigh, as he then began to trail soft kisses up her neck. "But, I mean, if you'd rather tell jokes all night then-"

"Oh, clever man. Clever clever man," Katara snorted, lying her head back on the ground and taking a deep breath as she enjoyed the sensations of his hands and mouth on her skin.

They spend the night entwined with one another, naked and enthralled under the glow of the full moon, yet equally mesmerised by the thoughts of the other as topics of wonder arose. They didn't even consider the time, that they hadn't slept, even when the sun began to peak from behind the horizon once more. All they considered were each other. Discovering, talking, laughing, gasping as night passed them by.

Their pact was not one that they could keep forever. Their lives made that impossible. But after that night they had resolved that, whenever it was just the two of them under the full moon the would see the night through, forgetting politics, just making love and talking about the wonder of the world. That was a pact that they could keep, and that they would keep, until the spirits called them to their next lives.


End file.
